Take a Chance on Me
by Renegadecat
Summary: LeAnn and Luxord star in this humorous yet slightly angsty look on how falling in love can not only change one's outlook on life, but show them a whole new spin on romance that they never would have guessed! And why does LeAnn look like Princess Tabitha?
1. Chapter 1

**Hello all! This is an in progress story so it'll be updated as soon as I get a new chapter written. Since I'm working on another story at the same time it might take a little while. But the good news is that since it's not finished I would dearly love all your ideas or musings about it since I can still change things or use those ideas! It's rated M for later on and for language so you've been warned! Luxord and other KH characters aren't mine but LeAnn and Tobi are and so is the plot! Enjoy!**

**CHAPTER ONE**

LeAnn Williams had a routine.

Every morning she woke up after hitting her snooze button three or four times and headed immediately into her bathroom where she took a shower, brushed her teeth and did what little makeup she wore for the day and took care of her hair. After a quick breakfast of tea and toast she dressed for the day in jeans, a nice shirt and comfortable shoes. When she felt she looked like the picture of professional assistance she gathered her bag and planner, turned on her cell phone and proceeded to call and tell her employer, Axel Raskoph that she was on her way to his house. Of course he didn't answer which meant that he was still in bed with his boyfriend.

After hopping an early morning trolly to Axel's neighborhood she fished out the spare key to his house and quietly opened the door. As per usual nothing stirred in the morning but she could hear soft snores from the master suite on the third floor (LeAnn had excellent hearting). She set down her things and quietly walked upstairs where she opened the door and beheld her employer and her baby cousin curled up nice as you please in the middle of the bed snoring away.

Now, most people would feel embarrassed upon walking into a scene such as this, but LeAnn, while also possessing a great sense of hearing was also confident and didn't really give a hoot that she had walked into this cozy scene of domesticity. She threw open the curtains and then stood at the foot of the bed (politely with her back to the scene) and proceeded to scream at the top of her lungs (like she did every morning). Roxas screamed back and a familiar thump told her that Axel had landed on the floor (as usual).

"LEANN! What the fuck are you doing here?! _Again_!?" Axel shouted at the top of his lungs as Roxas dashed for the bathroom downstairs to get ready for school.

"Oh nothing, just doing my job as your lovely and wonderful assistant," she replied as she opened his dresser drawers and threw clothes behind her back so he could get dressed.

"Would you get out so I can take a shower?" he growled. LeAnn heaved a heavy sigh and turned around glaring at him in annoyance. "Hey I'm naked here!!" he shouted quickly grabbing a pillow to cover his private area.

"Like I care, I've seen you naked before, every time you got drunk you liked to strip and streak through the streets. Besides it's not like I'm interested in what you've got," she shrugged as she motioned towards the pillow. "Now get cleaned up we've got meetings up the wazoo today!" she told him as she exited the room and wandered down to the kitchen.

As she waited for Axel and Roxas to come downstairs she started making breakfast for them like she did every morning, and tidied the kitchen and dining room. When Roxas finally stomped into the kitchen he smelled like aftershave and soap. "LeAnn, really, do you have to do this every morning?" he yawned as he sat down at the table, docilely accepting a plate of ham, eggs and toast.

"I'm twenty-five years old, my birthday is coming up soon, I'm not married nor do I date and my baby cousin happens to be ass over teakettle in love with my employer and best friend. So yes, every morning I have to come here and make his life a living hell and make you breakfast, thus fulfilling my motherly instincts and my wicked intentions all in only…" here she checked her watch, "twenty minutes," she smiled as she prepared another plate for Axel and set it down next to Roxas along with a cup of steaming coffee.

Axel soon appeared dressed in his usual jeans and oxford with the sleeves rolled up. Recently he'd stopped wearing his hair in a ponytail and had started spiking it up like it used to be. After complaining about how much he hated it when LeAnn woke them up every morning (except the weekends) he would sit down and eat the breakfast she made while she hung around and cleaned up her mess in the kitchen.

Yes, LeAnn Williams had a routine and while every once in long while she'd look at the other's around her and be envious of the lives they had with their boyfriends or girlfriends, husbands and wives she'd sternly remind herself that she was better off free and alone. No one would understand her little idiosyncrasies anyway and no one would ever stand up to her constant nagging and demanding. She was always dominant, always commanding, always right. But of course that was before she met a man named Luxord Faghte.

-----

Luxord glanced up proudly at the new sign that the workers had just installed over his club. The grand opening was tonight and he'd invited everyone. But while he was excited to see all his friends his heart was all a flutter because for the first time today he'd be meeting the woman that belonged to the irresistible, sexy voice that spoke to him every time he scheduled a meeting with Axel (who incidentally had helped him renovate the building and gave him a considerable amount of money to fund it.) He'd fallen in love with that voice, even when it paused to scream at Axel for something and he couldn't wait to meet her. He couldn't help the visions of a blond, busty beauty decked in heels and a short skirt. Or maybe she was a redhead, he loved red heads and she sounded feisty enough to be one, he almost melted at the thought when his phone started to ring.

"Luxord here! Ah Axel!" he immediately fell into talking with his friend. They discussed how Roxas was doing very briefly because Axel loved bragging about his lover and then began to talk about how things were going to go down tonight at the grand opening. Luxord entered his establishment and hiked the metal stairs to his office where it was soundproof. When he got there he proceeded to put Axel on speakerphone so he could take care of some paperwork.

"So anyway I guess LeAnn scheduled a dinner with you before hand? I can't make it because Roxas has a game that's still going about that time, but we'll defiantly be there for the grand opening, so do you mind if I just send LeAnn in my place or do you want to cancel all together?" Axel was saying. Luxord's heart skipped a few beats.

"Oh no mate, let the lady come, besides it'll be easier to romance her when you aren't around!" he teased.

"Uh…Lux you know she's not normal…" Axel began but Luxord cut him off.

"Oh come on mate, you've got your boyfriend to worry about of course she's not going to hit on you! She's probably a gem when you aren't around!" he added. Axel didn't have an answer for that and so he sighed.

"Well alright, but don't say I didn't warn you…" the tone of his voice momentarily shocked Luxord, maybe LeAnn was a shrew…nah, she couldn't be, she was always so polite on the phone! "Alright man, I'll see you tonight at the party!" Axel said before he hung up. Luxord turned off his phone and continued to work through the paperwork as his employees bustled about below making sure that everything was perfect.

After they had all come back from the Labyrinth Luxord had started looking into buying property for a nightclub. Axel had been more than helpful by not only volunteering to make the plans but also gave him a huge sum of money so he could start his business. Luxord was determined to pay him back though Axel had told him on several occasions not to worry about it. Zexion and Lexeaus were graduating from college in a few months but were already has happy as two love birds could be and of course Demyx and Xigbar were married and Riku and Sora had apparently shacked up not that long ago either. Luxord sighed and shook his head as he looked down at one of the pretty waitresses. He was almost thirty-five and he was starting to feel the ache of loneliness setting in again. Maybe he should hire an assistant too…

-----

"What do you mean you want me to meet him, why can't you go?!" LeAnn was shouting at Axel as they walked to their next meeting. "I don't want to be alone with him!" she added.

"You don't want to be alone with any guy, except for me or Roxas, why is that?" Axel demanded as he suddenly turned on her, wincing as she walked straight into him.

"Um…well…it's just…" her eyes darted away. "I don't like anyone else but you and Roxas…" she muttered.

"Uh huh, bullshit, you're just scared that you're gonna like him," Axel pointed out. "Just go for me okay LeAnn? It's like the only thing I've asked you to do in a long time and technically I'm ordering you, you are my assistant…" he added with a low mutter. LeAnn shot daggers at him from her eyes, turned up her nose and refused to talk to him for the rest of the afternoon.

-----

Later that night Luxord sat at the bar flirting with a very pretty blonde whom he thought was Axel's assistant. He hadn't actually asked her yet but she just looked like it. She said her name was Clarice but Luxord had just thought that was her name, after all it could be her middle name that she used socially, it happened. Just before he was about to ask her to sit at a table with him there was a throat clearing behind him. Instantly the pretty blonde frowned and began glaring at someone over his shoulder. When he turned he also found himself staring at the person behind him.

The woman that stood there was probably no higher than the middle of his shoulder when he was standing and had a mass of chocolate brown curls that fell becomingly around her slightly angular face. Her dark green eyes were framed by long smoky eyelashes that hadn't been done up with mascara and in fact it appeared that she was only wearing a bit of powder and some lip gloss. Blue jeans that flared just below the knee and a tightly laced tan and brown corset were simple but flattering to her slim figure and fair skin. The ankle length brown jacket she wore over it lent an air of modesty but was probably the most sensual thing about her garments since it was trimmed in tan fur around the collar, cuffs and hem.

"Excuse me Clarice I don't mean to interrupt but this man and I have a date," was all she said to the blonde woman.

"I hate you LeAnn Williams!" Clarice proceeded to proclaim drmatically before she grabbed her purse and haughtily sauntered to the other side of the room.

"You're LeAnn?" Luxord asked unable to process his shock. The woman automatically looked offended but she covered it quickly and gave him a frigid smile.

"Why yes, I'm sorry were expecting someone who looked more like her?" she pointed towards Clarice who was now flirting avidly with another man. "Sorry to disappoint."

"But…um, I mean, how did you know me?" Luxord demanded as he stumbled off his stool to follow her through the restaurant.

"Axel told me what you looked like, and the fact that you had an accent, I figured that you were Luxord Faghte, you are Luxord Faghte aren't you?" here she turned and pinned him with such a glare that even if he hadn't been Luxord Faghte he would have said yes. They stood in silence until the hostess seated them and LeAnn (almost begrudgingly) handed over her overcoat to her to store in the coat closet. Luxord was at a loss for words, she was very attractive but she was so outwardly hostile he wasn't sure if he would be able to handle her! Thankfully he wasn't too engrossed in his menu to notice that LeAnn (who was engrossed) looked very uncomfortable and kept fidgeting.

"Um…" Luxord began, wincing slightly as her snapping brown eyes glared at him. "If you're nervous…or uncomfortable here…" he paused to take a breath but quickly barreled into: "We can go somewhere else if you like!" because it looked like LeAnn was getting ready to verbally abuse him (loudly) in public.

However after his outburst her eyes widened and she stopped fidgeting. "Really?" she whispered leaning over the table to speak to him. Luxord had to very sternly remind himself not to look down her bosom.

"Yeah, I mean…we don't have to stay here love!" he smiled encouragingly. He could almost see the inner battle she was fighting with herself and Luxord suddenly learned something about LeAnn that it actually took many people, many years to notice, LeAnn was extremely prideful. "Only if you want to though!" he also added. The battle seemed to stop and she finally smiled at him, a little nervously and a little shy but she looked so much prettier when her lips curved upwards like that.

"I'd like to go somewhere else then," she told him softly. He slowly got to his feet and helped her out of her chair which puzzled her but not as much as him getting her jacket and helping her into it. In fact she was so flustered she hardly fought him when he took her hand and they crossed the busy street.

"Where would you like to eat?" he asked her politely when they had walked a few buildings down from the restaurant.

"Well, there's a little sushi place here that I love, do you like sushi?" she asked. Luxord got the distinct feeling that her question was significant, not because of sushi but the fact that she was asking him what he wanted.

"I've never had sushi actually," Luxord told her. "I'd love to try some, lead the way!" and that small gesture, that tiny miniscule nod of his head he did something that no other man had ever done with LeAnn, he gave her control right off the bat and now that she had it, she obviously didn't know what to do with it.

"Um…okay well it's…it's over here!" she started walking in the direction that she had pointed but was apparently getting turned around as she turned to see where he was. Luxord obligingly caught up with her and walked beside her. Now Luxord didn't know this, but everyone else did and it was the cause of many, many, many rumors after they were seen. Everyone knew, from suppliers to the shop owners she passed and talked to everyday that LeAnn Williams never walked side by side with someone, she was always in front shouting orders to the back, and if she were somehow relegated to walk behind someone she would glare and fume and mutter under her breath. So it wasn't a surprise that everyone dropped what they were doing to watch when it became apparent that LeAnn was not only walking beside someone but that she was apparently enjoying it.

Little did LeAnn know at that moment that her daily routine was about to change…drastically.


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER TWO**

Later that night as Axel and Roxas appeared on the red carpet outside of Luxord's new club Clover their friends greeted them enthusiastically. Demyx and Xigbar were even dressed normally in suits instead of those tight breeches and flowing peasant shirts they'd been forced to wear back home. "Roxas!" he shouted happily, hugging his old friend tightly before he hugged Axel. "You guys look great!" he gushed.

"You and Xigbar look good too! So how's the royal life been treating you?" Axel asked while Roxas ran off to talk to Sora and Riku.

"And like I was telling Jareth, there was no way in hell I was wearing that thing…" Xigbar's voice carried past him as he was complaining to Lexaeus and Zexion about his father-in-law.

"Hey guys!" he chirped as he caught up to his counterpart and his boyfriend.

"Hey Roxas, how's it going?" Sora asked excitedly.

"Not bad, have you guys played Oceanview yet?" he asked quickly.

"Nah, but we're gonna play them next week why?" Sora demanded. Riku rolled his eyes and let the two talk about their respective teams. The silver haired teen walked closer to the adults, actually hoping to catch Zexion's attention since he was supposed to be arranging for Sora, Riku and Roxas to attend Godolphin College in a couple of years. But on his way over he caught sight of the approaching Luxord and beside him was a very attractive woman. But Riku wasn't the only one who saw them.

"Luxy!" Demyx squealed as he ran forward and almost tackled the other man. Luxord however proved more adept and caught Demyx quickly laughing and ruffling his hair while the woman skittered away and out of sight. As Luxord was brought back into the fold everyone around him began to congratulate him on a job well done. His club was a hit and it was time for the party to begin! Patrons rushed in before the VIPS were ushered in with more grace and were accepted among a myriad of shouts and toasts. After waving jovially to the crowd they went upstairs into one of three private booths to have their own little party.

"This is awesome Luxy!" Demyx gasped at everything in the room. "It's so pretty!" he smiled.

"Aw, thanks kiddo you know I put in a retractable stage right there, just for musicians like you, so maybe you'll play for me someday?" he teased the younger man as his face was glued to the window to look down at the professional band playing right now.

"Hey Luxord isn't that your date?" Riku asked suddenly.

"My date?" the blond queried.

"Yeah the brunette chick arguing with the bouncer to get up here, she looks pissed!" Riku observed. "Hey now she's taking out a cell phone, you're about to get it dude…"

But of course it wasn't Luxord's cell phone that rang, it was Axel's and he'd forgotten to take it off speakerphone the last time he chatted with Luxord.

"Axel Raskoph you get this asshole to let me up there right now or I swear to gawd that for the next two weeks I'm coming over at four in the morning!" she screeched through the mouthpiece, crystal clear over the pulse pounding music downstairs. Later everyone would admit that they'd never seen Axel move so fast, one moment he was reclining in a chair and the next he was out the door and down the stairs.

"So wait…who is she then?" Riku asked as he watched Axel try to placate her before motioning for her to come upstairs.

"She's my cousin," Roxas informed them. "And Axel's assistant and best friend…female best friend!" he added with a quick smile to Demyx.

"Okay everyone sorry, sorry…little mistake, this is LeAnn Williams!" Axel announced dramatically as he tugged LeAnn inside ahead of him. She seemed to teeter for a few moments and caught her balance. "She's my assistant and friend and uh…what we're family now too I suppose?" he asked her.

"We've always been family it's just technically more official these days," she said dryly as she quickly shed her coat and tossed it neatly onto a coat rack. Now it should be noted that even though each man (save Luxord) was happily paired in a relationship and enjoyed the male physic more than the female one, it could not be denied that they knew bodily perfection when they saw it. Though LeAnn was less than the ideal height she was healthy and rounded in the places a woman should be rounded and had a very trim figure. In fact everyone but Axel and Roxas were staring.

"Hey you look like Tobi!" Demyx's sudden outburst had her head snapping to attention and she glared at him critically.

"Who's Tobi?" she demanded. Demyx at this point wasn't sure if he should answer. He was beginning to feel the same way as when the Superior used to call him up to explain his actions, but she put off an even more hostile vibe.

"Um, Tobi is my little sister," Demyx murmured.

"Hm…that's odd," she commented as she wandered over to a table where a considerable amount of food was located. She hadn't actually eaten much at the sushi restaurant with Luxord because she'd been too nervous to actually eat. Which was odd…and would have to stop.

"Why's it odd?" Roxas asked curiously.

"Oh well-," she was about to snap at him then thought better of it. "I thought you'd remember, my brother's name is Toby." She said as she picked up a plate and demurely loaded it with some cocktail shrimp, some mini brownies and picked up a beer from the cooler next to the table. "It's weird though, my parents always said I looked like my older sister…" she shrugged as she sat at the bar.

The men decided it would be prudent not to ask her about her sister as she began to poke around her plate.

"So how long have you and Luxord been dating?" Riku's question quieted the room just as conversations began again. LeAnn jerked and began to cough violently as she had swallowed her beverage wrong. Axel leaned over in concern and thumped her on the back a few times.

"Oh no mate, we just met actually, we're not dating! LeAnn just allowed me the pleasure of taking her to dinner," Luxord cut in before LeAnn could regain her voice enough to scream her displeasure. Axel slapped a hand over her mouth just to be sure because he was fairly certain that his assistant was going to jump Riku and pull his hair out.

"LeAnn! How about we go dance eh?" Axel said loudly as he effectively dragged LeAnn out of the room and down the stairs.

"You asshole!" she shouted at him over the bass in the room below.

"Aw, come on LeAnn, don't be like that, Riku was just asking and Luxord really wanted to take you to dinner!" Axel told her as he grabbed her hand and spun her around. It was quite amazing how her body knew all the moves but performed them a bit robotically. He had a hunch though that with the right partner she'd loosen up.

"Why though? That's what I don't understand! I mean all he wanted to do at dinner was talk about me! Most men just want to talk about themselves!" she complained as she dipped on his arm and came back up with a graceful curve of her abdomen.

"I told you, he really wanted to meet you, now will you stop being such a shrew and enjoy the attention for once?" Axel demanded as he turned her and brought her back up against him.

"Ugh, hot as always," she tsked as she pushed him away and dusted herself off. "I'm going home, feel free to bring my coat along later!" and with that LeAnn turned on her tiny heels and was gone, leaving Axel dumbstruck in the middle of the dance floor.

-----

LeAnn Williams was confused. She walked home part of the way before catching a trolly to the Lamplighter District, the very posh side of town where she owned her three-bedroom town house. She shivered in the cold night air as she fumbled with her keys and cursed the fact that she had left her jacket (which had been a gift from Axel a few years ago) at the club. She had been so angry when she left she just couldn't think of anything but getting home and getting away from everyone.

She knew she was being unfair and rude but frankly the thought of falling in love with someone scared her shitless! She had seen and heard so many horror stories about it that she dreaded the day she found herself applying lipstick and rogue to impress some guy. He should be able to like her for who she was right? When she finally stumbled into her house she viciously kicked off her shoes and ran upstairs to turn on the shower.

That Luxord man, all he'd done at dinner was ask her about herself and what she did or wanted to do with her life. She couldn't tell him that she secretly wanted to be a singer but she wanted to! And he was the first person she had ever wanted to tell that! She rushed headlong into the steaming shower the moment she stopped shivering enough to get undressed and sat down on the wooden bench located therein. The scalding water dripped off of her and worked its way into her sore shoulder and leg muscles. Why was she so tense? After putting her head into her hands and heaving a deep sigh she felt herself relax.

She was scared. Plain and simple she was scared shitless that this man named Luxord Faghte was attracted to her. Why? She couldn't say but it probably had something to do with the lack of control she feared in her life. Ever since she was a small girl she fought with everything she had to maintain a constant in her life, to maintain her control over her own destiny. The fact that she was adopted and had no idea who her real parents were but somehow strongly resembled her adopted older sister, always bugged her. It was weird, it was strange it was something she couldn't control, and things she couldn't control she didn't need.

-----

Meanwhile Luxord was sighing and the others were starting to feel highly uncomfortable around him.

"Listen Luxord, it's obvious that you have a crush on a girl that really could care less about your existence right?" Xigbar asked him.

"Apparently…" Luxord returned dryly.

"Well here's what you do, all you gotta do is sweep her off her feet. Chicks love romantic shit, not all of them admit it though!" he suggested. Of course Luxord's hopeful face dropped when Roxas and Axel both started laughing.

"If you did something like that she'd give you a black eye and never speak to you again! LeAnn must maintain constant control over her life, she's worse than Xemnas!" Roxas pointed out.

"Dude, she's not that bad," Axel defended her with a roll of his eyes.

"She scared me!" Demyx added from his corner where he and Zexion were whispering furiously about something.

"LeAnn's in a league of her own, your best bet is to woo her gently." Lexaeus finally said, his deep rumbling voice catching everyone's attention. His gaze slid to Zexion who immediately blushed and looked away. "You must let her maintain her homeostatic relationship with her self and the world around her and yet at the same time disrupt it enough to become a part of it."

"Oh so is that what you did to me? Interrupt my homeostatic being?" Zexion bitched at him. Lexaeus just smiled at him.

"No, I simply saw what I wanted and took it," the two were silent for the rest of the evening, Lexaeus quietly gloating and Zexion furiously blushing.

"Well that's just maddeningly unhelpful…" Luxord sighed as he continued to look out the window. "She kinda reminds me of Larxene…" he added. At that point everyone traded interested looks.

"Do you think Larxene was LeAnn's Nobody?" Sora popped up from where he, Riku and Roxas were discussing strategies to beat Oceanview.

"Oh no, LeAnn didn't know anything about the Organization," Axel told them loudly. "Roxas and I had to explain everything to her like twice, she thinks Xemnas was a nut job." He added.

"Well he kinda was," Xigbar, Zexion and Lexaeus said at the same time.

"Shaddaup!" Axel snapped.

"It's no use…I suppose I'll just have to give up on her if she's as bad as you say," Luxord sighed, though the disappointment was evident in his voice. Roxas and Axel traded looks.

"Look dude, if you really like her, like really, really, really like her, we'll help you, how about an official date eh?" Axel offered. "I technically made her go with you tonight." He added.

"Really? You'll really help me?" Luxord sounded so hopeful that Roxas could only pray that Axel's cockamamie plan worked.

"Sure…now the first thing you need to know-," And so through the night Axel instructed Luxord on the best way to approach LeAnn and how to win her oh so guarded heart.


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER THREE **

She never saw it coming.

No really, LeAnn Williams had always prided herself on her ability to read her employer and best friend, not to mention everyone around her with incredible ease. So her surprise at encountering Luxord Faghte outside her front door was extremely unexpected and comical as she simply stood there and stared at him with an open mouth. After all, she'd practically ignored him at the club just to make sure that he didn't' get any wrong ideas about her.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" she demanded when she finally found her voice.

"I'm returning your jacket, you left it at my club remember?" He smiled cheerfully, his British accent winding around her and caressing her ears.

"I asked Axel to return it to me, not you!" she huffed as she reached out to take it from him. However Luxord didn't want to give up his prize that easily and LeAnn was determined to stay within the safety of her home since she was only clothed in lounge pants and a tank top. LeAnn, was a surprisingly modest person and hated being seen as half dressed by anyone but Axel and Roxas (and even then she wore jackets over her bare arms and never showed any leg).

"Well I figured that since it was my club I would have that honor, Axel gave me your address," Luxord continued with a smile. LeAnn glared at him and tried to scare him away by finally throwing back her head and emerging from her front door. "Well thanks, can I have it back now?" she demanded as she held out her hand expectedly.

Luxord eagerly grabbed it and kissed it before she could pull it back. "Of course my dear, but there's just one catch," he grinned as he stepped closer to her, immediately sending her skittering back behind the safety of her doorjamb.

"What is it? I can't imagine you want money, not with the successful opening of Clover and all that," she groused.

"You're correct, so the only thing that I could possibly want is the pleasure of your company at dinner tonight," he said. LeAnn was shocked (once more) and so she just stood there staring at him.

"You've got to be kidding me," she muttered continuing to glare at him. "I'd rather pay you, how much do you want?" she demanded.

"Too bad! I refuse to accept your money, therefore if you would be so kind as to meet me at Tide's at 7:30 tonight!" Luxord grinned before handing over her coat. LeAnn snatched it and held it to her chest, continuing to glare daggers at him before she slammed the door and slumped inside. Her heart pounded wildly in her chest, what on earth was wrong with her? She frowned deeply and headed straight for her cell phone where she immediately dialed Axel (and since he didn't pick up for obvious reasons) she left him a very scathing and bitter voice message before she went upstairs to vent her frustration on her punching bag.

-----

Luxord whistled the entire way back to his club, thrilled at how the morning went, he had no doubt that LeAnn would be at Tide's tonight as per what Axel had said yesterday. When he arrived the staff had just arrived and was cleaning up the mess from the night before. He greeted them all with a smile and went upstairs to his office where he called Axel.

"I did it!" he said when Axel finally picked up his phone.

"I know, LeAnn left me a very explicit voicemail detailing what she was going to do to my genitalia for giving you her address." Axel commented in a laid back fashion. "But the nice thing is that she feels obligated to repay you somehow for returning her jacket. Nice going by the way, suggesting a fancy restaurant so she'd have to dress up." He added.

Luxord was practically preening at the thought of lovely LeAnn in a fancy dress. "Yeah…well it's not as fancy as that other place where we met so hopefully she won't be too uncomfortable," he continued as he began shuffling through paperwork. "By the way I've been meaning to ask you, just how long has LeAnn known you and then about the whole heartless, nobody thing?" he asked.

"Well, I guess from what a few scrapbooks around my house say LeAnn and I have been friends since we were kids, I even checked some old yearbooks and there are a bunch of pictures of us together. It's weird though because she's three years younger than me…I guess our parents were friends or something."

"You have parents?" Luxord queried.

"Yeah but they died a few years ago in an accident I guess, LeAnn told me a few months ago when I asked about it. She cried a little…I think it's because I as I am now never got a chance to meet them." He mused.

"See? I told you she's not a heartless wench!" Luxord joked. "Speaking of which, you and Roxas explained all that to her right?" he sounded unsure of himself.

"Yeah she knows, I think she caught on faster than I thought she would, she asked about Xemnas once and what he looked like, which I thought was odd but what are ya gonna do right?" Luxord could almost see Axel shrugging it off. "Well I have to get going I have a meeting with the school again about the addition and LeAnn will be here any minute to boss me around so I'll see you later!"

"Bye!" And with that there was a click and Axel was gone. Luxord couldn't wipe the fool grin off his face as he continued to sign contracts, organize paperwork and interview other employees.

-----

She hated him.

She was fairly certain about that as she stood uncomfortably in the lobby of Tides (ten minutes ahead of schedule) dressed in a pair of black slacks and a dark blue oxford that accented her darm brown hair and green eyes. Her hair was pulled into a somewhat tidy bun and secured with two black styling sticks. She vainly attempted to gain more height with some high heels but when you're only 5'4" to begin with it doesn't get much better than that.

She clutched her handbag nervously as men would turn to look at her but with an effective glare she shot them all down. Finally the door opened and in walked the object of her animosity. He stood a good head taller than the rest of the men in the room and his blonde hair and blue eyes also made him stand out in a crowd. He was very handsome, this man she hated, he smiled too much, and he was way too laid back to be British, maybe the accent was fake? He looked around for a moment before he saw her and his whole face lit up.

Shivers skipped down LeAnn's spine, no one had ever smiled at her that way, that way that said they were happy to see her, the look that said that they didn't care who else was in the room it was her they were focused on.

"LeAnn, thanks for coming!" Luxord was saying as he walked up to her, hands outstretched to touch her shoulders and embraced her. She pulled away quickly.

"It doesn't mean anything, I mean…this whole thing it's just because you wouldn't let me pay you…" she snapped, growing surly. Luxord just smiled.

"That's why I said thank you," he remarked as he gently put his hand on her upper back to lead her to the table he'd reserved. It was the best table in the restaurant. Somewhat tucked away and surrounded by the large aquarium that snaked it's way through the restaurant. LeAnn sat rather stiffly for a moment until she became aware that no one around was watching and she slowly relaxed.

"I hope you don't mind, you said that you liked sushi so I thought you liked seafood in general," Luxord smiled. LeAnn wanted to snap something sarcastic at him but a little nugget of guilt settled in her chest. He'd actually thought about where to take her and he'd come all the way to her house to drop off her jacket and he'd been smiling at her all evening (okay all five minutes of it).

"No, I mean…yes, I like seafood," she finally muttered quietly as she concentrated on her menu. Everything here was so expensive! Why did she agree to this? She hunted for a moment before seeing something that was rather reasonable and wouldn't cost too much money. But she never got a chance to order it as Luxord immediately took the reigns and ordered for both of them. She was left flabbergasted as the waiter poured a generous amount of wine in their glasses and then left them alone. She wanted to seethe and yell and scream but she didn't, she didn't even glare at him. "You're weird." Was all she said.

"I am? Well I can see that I suppose," Luxord smiled. "Why are you trying so hard to push me away?" he finally asked as she finished swallowing a good mouthful of wine.

LeAnn's face paled. "You knew?" she whispered hoarsely.

"It's not that hard to get, you're practically screaming out that you hate my guts!" he grinned. "I don't know why, we just met…" he continued. He knew that he was going way out of order from what Axel and Roxas had told him, but his heart was telling him now was the time to address the issue, now was the time to nip her surliness in the bud so he could enjoy a softer, more feminine LeAnn. Her cheeks flushed the cutest shade of red and she ducked her head.

"I'm not…I don't like…attention from men," she murmured quietly. Luxord's eyes got wide, had he somehow made a mistake? Was he trying to woo a woman who had no interest in men at all?! Panic almost took hold of him and his new heart began hammering wildly. "I…I was in a bad relationship once and I get nervous around men, even though I try to date once in awhile I get scared and immediately try to push them away…" she explained. "Its such a lame explanation and I sound like such a little girl I know!" she groaned as she put her head in her hands.

"No love! It's fine!" Luxord scooted closer to her so he could touch her shoulder gently. "I mean, I don't know what happened to you but its perfectly natural to be skittish after coming out of a bad relationship. What happened?" he whispered.

"He left me for another person." She found herself whispering. "I never told Axel, I always said it was a mutual thing because I was afraid of what he'd do to the other guy…but I mean I guess it doesn't matter anymore…" she sighed.

"What doesn't matter anymore?" Luxord suddenly demanded, unsure of what she meant.

"It doesn't matter if I'm around anymore. I mean, Axel has Roxas to keep him company and you of course and those other men that were here the other night. All he ever talks about these days is how great you guys all are and I know all he says about me is that I'm a nagging, demanding bitch," she sighed. "It hurts you know…thinking that you have someone all to yourself and then one day you realize that they might never have been yours at all…"

Silence hung between them at the table as Luxord realized yet another thing about LeAnn, she'd obviously been in love with Axel and had hidden it so well from him that he would have never guessed. In fact Luxord was quite sure that she had even fooled herself.

"Axel doesn't feel that way about you I'm sure! You need to let your past go love; if you don't then you'll always be afraid to experience new things!" he tried to encourage her.

"Oh what do you know? You're just like him and the others!" she snapped savagely. She stared at the table with frustration, ashamed at her sudden outburst and admitting her secretive feelings for Axel. Not only that but the deep pain she felt whenever he talked about the other's and what they had been through, talking about things she didn't know and would never know. He was her only friend, didn't he know that?

They sat in silence until dinner came and then Luxord awkwardly tried to make up for that.

"So, LeAnn what do you do when you aren't working? What are your hobbies I mean?" he asked as he watched her gracefully eat shrimp and scallops.

"I like to read and I beat on a punching bag daily to release my anger." She shrugged. "My therapist said it would be a good idea to take my aggression out on inanimate objects," she added.

"Do you have anger issues or something?"

"Something like that. I'm very aggressive if you couldn't tell, something that stems from my childhood, apparently I liked to kick other kid's asses if they messed with me on the playground."

"Wow…" Luxord couldn't think of what else to say except that he was interestingly aroused by the thought of LeAnn beating on a red punching bag.

"Anyway it helps relieve tension too." She continued.

"That can't be all though! What else?" he asked again. LeAnn shot him a look that was clearly supposed to scare him but he smiled instead and patted himself on his back when she cracked a small one herself.

"I like to watch old TV shows and listen to rock and roll music. I also liked to dance." Now why had she told him that? She was an alright dancer but all her instructors had told her the same thing, she needed to relax and feel the music, she figured she was feeling it well enough so she always blew them off. Besides what did that even mean?

"Well lucky for you I own a dance club!" Luxord joked.

"Yes, with a bar and a gambling nook and a pull out stage for musicians. I can't believe you were able to fit all of that into one tiny space," she commented as she dug around her pile of noodles for more shrimp. "What do you like to do?" she asked.

"I like to gamble, and I usually win," he added with a wink. "I'm also pretty good with clocks, I fix them in my spare time. I like to cook and brew tea, I have an herb garden in my kitchen that I've recently planted tea leaves in."

"Seriously? You like to harvest your own tea leaves?" LeAnn began giggling and it evolved into the most melodious laughter he'd ever heard.

"Yeah, you should come over and see it sometime, I'll make lunch!" he suggested. LeAnn found herself nodding in agreement before she could calm herself. Then once she had she realized what she'd done.

"Oh!"

"Oh no! You already said yes and there's no way I'm gonna let you back down!" he teased.

"Oh alright! Lunch, this Saturday?" she asked as she swallowed a mouthful of wine.

"Done!"

"Done!" LeAnn agreed, somewhat happy that he hadn't let her back down.

And maybe she didn't hate him so much now.


End file.
